Rivers under pressure in race for water licences

Claims that irrigators are racing to secure valuable water licences before they run out.

ABC TV

The Northern Territory Environment Centre says it is concerned about the speed at which licences to tap underground water reserves are being applied for by irrigators.

Four applications were advertised this week, seeking a total of 15.7 billion litres of water from the Ooloo aquifer, which feeds the Daly River.

Environment Centre director Stuart Blanch says that would increase the current allocations of water by 60 per cent.

He says irrigators are racing to secure valuable water licences in the Katherine region, about 300 kilometres south of Darwin, before they run out.

"This is a harbinger of what's to come, with a massive northern food bowl push," he said.

"I think a lot of fishermen, traditional owners, river communities downstream and environmentalists will say the Daly is coming under increasing pressure from water extraction.

"It's a race to get whatever water they can for free.

"People, I think, are ignoring the concern of scientists, people living downstream who use the healthy river, and they just want to get in before they lose out."

Sandalwood supplier TFS has applied for a extraction licences of 13 billion litres from the southern and northern sections of the Ooloo aquifer.

Earlier this year, there was controversy when an application to draw up to 5.8 gigalitres of water a year was granted to Stylo Station near Mataranka, about 100 kilometres south of Katherine, from the Tindall aquifer.

The Tindall aquifer feeds the Roper River.

The Stylo Station licence is by far the largest in the area.

The property is owned by the family of Country Liberals federal election candidate Tina MacFarlane, who is now waiting for the results of counting of the final votes for the seat of Lingiari.